Wimbledon WTA preview: Is third time the charm for Jabeur?

Ons Jabeur
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In the last seven editions of Wimbledon, there have been seven different champions in women’s singles. That includes six first-time winners in a row dating back to 2017. Most recent among them are Elena Rybakina and Marketa Vondrousova.

Both Rybakina and Vondrousova defeated Ons Jabeur in the final, so Jabeur will be among those looking to extend the streak of maiden champs at the All-England Club. Aryna Sabalenka, who has won the Australian Open twice in succession, is in the same boat. So, too, is Iga Swiatek–the world No. 1 has triumphed at the French Open four times but has never fared particularly well in London.

Here are my best bets for the women’s side at Wimbledon in 2024.

Aryna Sabalenka (+333) 

It’s only a matter of time before Sabalenka triumphs in SW19. She is a two-time major champion and grass is a great surface for her game. The Belarusian wields one of the biggest serves on tour and generally punishes the tennis ball. Sabalenka is a load to deal with on any surface–but especially on faster ones. The world No. 3 has advanced to the semifinals in each of her last two Wimbledon appearances and could be poised to go two steps farther in 2024.

Aryna Sabalenka


Ons Jabeur (+1400) 

Jabeur is an underdog since she hasn’t been playing her best tennis this season, but her history at the AELTC cannot be overlooked. Two runner-up performances in a row is no joke–and no fluke. The Tunisian’s variety works extremely well on grass, befuddling all different kinds of opponents. Having also advanced to the quarterfinals in 2021, Jabeur is an awesome 16-3 in her last 19 matches at this tournament. Her draw is a decent one, too. She would not run into Swiatek until the semis and Sabalenka until the final.

Danielle Collins (+5000) 

If Collins stays true to her word of retiring at the end of 2024, she has two Grand Slam appearances left in her career. The U.S. Open definitely gives the 30-year-old American her best chance, but she is playing so well this season that she cannot be discounted in any spot. Collins won the Miami title this spring, backed it up with a Charleston triumph, and reached the Rome semis. She has never done much at Wimbledon, but her style of play should be just fine on grass. Collins is well worth a shot if you want to take a longshot.

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83 Comments on Wimbledon WTA preview: Is third time the charm for Jabeur?

  1. Hullo amy 🙁
    Is Saba out? Is it a fact now? I’m news-blind these days; it’s simply too anxiety-provoking to keep up. As far as the current mess in the two-party system, there is no one I want to see as president, not even close.

    Very rough about Ryba, indeed. I hope she is not going to need to drop out!!

    I picked Gauff to win. Jabeur was my first winner, and she recently showed some excellent form in one of the grass tournaments.

    Hoping you found the right place to call home. I’m at my wit’s end here in Idaho. It’s such a far-right nest of extremists.

    • Hi Elizabeth!!😀
      Are you ok?
      Am in despair about Biden. But we should discuss on non tennis forum. Have been saying for ages that he shouldn’t be the nominee but we have now reached the point of ludicrous farce.
      Am still looking unfortunately. I realise being in Idaho is very difficult so sending you a virtual hug.

      • Yes Saba definitely out.
        Dunno if Gauff can control her fh enough to win. Have my doubts. She needs to work with Pere Riba again.

    • Yes, Big Al,
      Gauff was struggling with her serve at the FO.
      But, I did get to watch her win a match on grass, what tournament, I don’t remember that part but she was playing Jess Pegula and both served as well as they ever will. Pegula impressed me the most with her shots off the ground. (I think Gauff won in the decider)

  2. I’ve got Iga winning and Jasmine getting to the final, just because i love her. Had doubts about Sabs and Rybs and hope Ons wins, love her too.

    • Dang it, Margot, not that I exactly remember, but I think I picked Vika at least 3 rounds. Her son Leo is in my head. Such a cutie and obviously a massive fan of his momma!

      I posted about the Bracket WTA winners with congrats on the WTA page.
      Seriously, I don’t know where to post sometimes.
      I also posted about ATP winners on one of Ricky’s pages yesterday; congrats to welshwitch and Cami, Margot! Eastbourne used to be on my bucket list. Love that venue.

  3. Saba was my pick , changed to Rybakina at last minute. Glad I did, but by sound of it ,Gauff playing really well could be her year. I also went with the hype and had the local girls going far .

    • Most times lately, I try Divination while making my lousy picks.
      Gosh, do I suck? But it’s as long as it’s a diversion from reality, Ill keep trying.

  4. Yes, we DO read the WTA page….and would love more WTA coverage. I like Iga (of course!) to win it all, but also cheering for Coco and Jessie!

  5. Thanks for your support, Scoot Dimon!

    But here I am hunting down Ricky’s Wimbledon WTA thread in the archives because going to the WTA page and reading my own posts hurts my heart 😀

    Of course, here in the USA, I cannot watch live WTA during a GS event because ESPN gets the coverage. I should not complain. At least I have ATP and WTA matches that take precedence, and I can watch players from the USA or top WTA seeds.

    What I am trying to say is that I only just missed Marta Kostyuk vs Daria Saville! Dang. Kostyuk was trailing Saville, and I missed Marta’s fight to win.
    Thank God for YouTube.

  6. Jessica Pegula will ruin my bracket and become the biggest upset, or so the commies say, of the tournament. But Xinyu Wang is ten years younger than Pegula and has a better w/l record this year.

    Jessica finally made an impression in one or two of the grasscourt events that I partially watched; I thought she would go deep at Wimbledon. 🤦
    ESPN flipped from Novak and is showing the WTA match if Jess can win this TB…
    And sleepy old Jess got the second set!

  7. That was better than I expected, Jazda!

    Putintseva is next for Iga Swiatkek, then possibly another of my favorites, Ostapenko, who I picked to knock Iga out. Or, Bernarda Pera could be the winner vs Ostapenko.

    Barbora Krejcikova has won two in a row! It’s great to see her moving along, as she should be in the bracket, and I hope she keeps going!

    • Had to laugh .The bbc female presenter ( not sure who) was talking about De Minaur , them said his girlfriend Krejicova was doing well too

      • Yeah. I’d pick Ostspenko to go far every time but this time, she’s hardly won a match even on her favourite grass.

        • That’s right! I’ve marveled at your brackets with Ostapenko going deeper than I take her! There was even a time when you picked her to win. Jelena did win a title or two this year. Was that one of those when you got it right? 😀

          Surprisingly, Iga and Jelana have never met on clay. Iga’s losing record to Jelena is three times on HC in the Round of 16, the last being in 2023 at the US Open! The other loss was on grass, in round 32 in Birmingham in 2019; my brain remembers that match! I was cheering for Ostapenko but had an eye on Iga moving through the rankings. It was Iga without the cap.

          • I usually back Penko when it suits her game like on grass.
            But she won on clay at RG so I guess a lot also depends on what mood she’s in

  8. Iga has a real fight on her hands Yulia is a strong player with a nice touch, keeps enticing Iga to the net with good results.
    Iga, just been broken, is now raising her game.

    • Yes, I thought Yulia would fancy her chances. But my stomach ulcer is a problem in this case. I don’t know why I have become so attached to Iga. Losing to the feisty little Kazakh is nothing to be ashamed about. And for me, it’s either Yulia or Jelena O. to end the #1 time on grass.

      I hope you are enjoying the matches, Margot and anyone watching this match 😀
      Will be around later.

      • And out goes Iga, beaten by a whirlwind. Grass is not her best surface and, as you say, losing to Yulia is no disgrace.
        But lovely Ons is out too, beaten by Elina, too many errors. I like Jasmine but can’t see her beating Coco or Yulia playing like this.

  9. One set all now. Wow! Hope Elizabeth isn’t watching, she would be behind the sofa!
    Yulia playing at an amazing level. can Iga reset?

    • Iga out. I only saw the last few points. But Iga,really isn’t very good on grass. Hasn’t been past the quarters so not a big shock.
      Sorry Elizabeth!! Am guessing you aren’t that surprised so not that upset.
      Meanwhile Elina beat Ons. I did see quite a bit of that match and Elina was really good while Ons was erratic. I like Ons a lot but Elina is my favourite of all the women so I am very happy.
      Gael looks so sweet when watching.
      Must have a look at the draw now…

      • I was not surprised but disappointed after getting my hopes up and watching how improved Iga looked on the grass compared to last year.

        Congrats to Putinseva! She’s in the QF vs Ostapenko. I hope Jelena gives us her best!

  10. I picked Keys to make the QF vs. Paolini in this round due to Keys’ powerful serve and forehand, but I like Paolini’s game more; I love her high energy and how she goes after the ball.

    • I left the TV for a minute, then saw Paolini’s happy face. She won, but Keys retired the match. It’s not clear to me what happened to Madison. Whatever it was, I hope it’s not too serious.

  11. So we’re back on this thread now!!!
    What happened to Maddie ?! She was outplaying Paolini when last I looked.
    Putinseva vs Penko should be highly entertaining. I expect Jelena is going to challenge a lot of line calls including some where her ball is out by a foot or so..! Would be so great if she can find her A game but have my doubts..

    • Maddie had to retire when she was so close to winning. But I don’t know why because my coverage went quickly to ATP.

      Yes, I hope Putintseva vs. Ostapenko will be highly entertaining. And Putintseva has a bag of tricks of her own, including jumping to throw a server off. I can see Jelena flat-out retiring if things don’t go as planned. I could feel Ostapenko’s disappointment when Iga lost!

  12. I didn’t know you guys would see my post on the old WTA thread. I was up there crying in peace because Iga lost.

  13. I love Jasmine, she seems such a charming, joyful person, but I think she is vulnerable to power players.
    Final: Coco v Elena? Anyone call that?

    • Barty has picked Coco to win after Saba, her initial pick, withdrew. I favour Ryba rather than Coco because of the unreliability of Coco’s fh. But Ryba can look great one moment and the next she’s sick!

    • Margot, I checked our WTA brackets, and no one picked Coco vs. Elena.

      Coco just crashed my bracket by losing to Emma Navarro!
      I do love Navarro’s zen-like calm when in a big match. She has ice in her veins. 😀

  14. Coco out. Sorry but I don’t understand y people keep picking her to win when her fh is so dodgy…I know I keep saying this but we see it time over time ..

    • amy, Coco played like a nervous nellie, and it was terribly bad today. I thought she had her forehand ready for grass season. Many of us expect great things from Coco. But she played way below what she can vs. Emma Navarro. I would never have picked another American besides Coco: not Collins, Keys, Navarro, or anyone. Americans expect Coco to be the top. Maybe that’s the problem? Everyone needs to back off and leave Coco alone. She is still growing. Not everyone can hatch out of the egg and play on grass like Venus, Serena, or Sharapova.

      And the other Emma. Emma Raducanu has maybe tweaked an old injury?
      Who is Lulu Sun? She is very good, but I’ve never seen her before.

      And I consider myself in good company if Ash Barty also picked Coco to win.

      I like how wide open it is now. Of course, Rybakina is at the top now, but Krejcikova is playing at long last. It feels like I pick the wrong Czech every time! There are so many talented WTA players from Czechia!

      • It’s true she didn’t play well Elizabeth. BUT, and it’s a big but, we have seen her fh breakdown now countless occasions.
        She needs Pere Riba! When he worked with her and Gilbert her fh improved a lot! He was brought in specifically to do that then suddenly left after she won the USO.
        Of course it’s true Barty knows a million times more than I do but I still don’t understand y people overlook what a problem it is.
        Would be incredible if Barbora can find some form after such a tough stretch. I love her and Muchova. And Petra!! So many talented Czechs who are great people…

  15. Yes, Amy you were right about Coco. I blame Tracy Austin who was hyping her BIG TIME!
    Lulu who? Amazing match, she totally out gunned Emma who looked injured…yet again. And Emma Navarro looked so good too. Exciting times.

    • Lulu was impressive. Only saw bits of match but thought she was the better player regardless.
      Navarro was impressive. Think she beats Jasmine.

    • WTA is exciting and fun to watch. It kept my mind off the national and world news all day!

      I see there is no tennis happening right now. Is it rained out today?

          • Welcome amy! It seems you always keep an eye on WTA. I switched to WTA when Halep, Kvitova, Aga Radwanska, and a bunch of other interesting WTA players got my attention. I think it was 2014 – 2015.

          • When I started doing WTA brackets I had no clue who was going to win, except for Serena, Venus and Sharapova. Margot gave me the first good advice for the time, “just pick an ova” 😀

          • Yes am very keen on WTA. When Rafa,was out last year I hardly watched ATP.
            There are loads of female players I like!

        • I found Minaur and Fils on ESPN. I usually wake up and look at the Flashcore.com page, but I never shut my laptop down last night. I see that Kalinskaya took a medical time-out. And, Kalinskaya retires. Elena Rybakina to the QF. cheers, Rybak fans!

          De Minaur has taken the first set and rolling on. He gets the second set.

          Yay, ESPN switched to show Svitolina and Xinyu Wang. Elina Svitolina gets the first set. Nice.

          • Elina and Elena both won! Seriously annoyed they play each other next as they are the 2 players left I like the most.

  16. Amy: At least you’ll have someone to cheer for in the next round. My favourites, Naomi, Iga and Ons, have all gone and I’m left with lovely Jasmine who is unlikely to go further. Though I do like “other Emma” from what I’ve seen, and also Like Elina. Lots of fab players to cheer!

    • Good points Margot!!! If only Naomi could get her confidence together. She struggles so much with nerves and confidence. We saw what she can do when no one expected anything of her at RG and the pressure was off.
      Isn’t Barbora still in the draw!! ?She is definitely one of my faves as well. Should have had her on the list. Thought you liked Barbora?! Very skilful and great person.

      • Yes, I do like her very much. On next after Putin/Osta.
        Speaking of which the SAS needed to be called for the first set a massacre was going on! A bit better for Yulia in 2nd.

        • Didn’t realise they are playing!!😠 just saw Jelena won! Come on Jelena! Honestly I was miserably watching Zverev against the Cart Horse..
          Jelena is another of my faves but can’t support her against Barbora if she makes it through…

          • Wow! Ostapenko won! It felt like her time to win some matches in Wimbledon. She loves the biggest stage she can get and her timing was right. She thought she liked her chances of getting past Swiatek, and she conquered Putinseva. So far, so good, Jelena! Into QF, who will be next for her
            Krecikova over Collins, I hope!

  17. Jelena’s stats are good, but not as many aces as she used to get. 29 winners! I must see the match as soon as possible, but I have a few more calls to make before I can relax.

    Any Cart Horse match is not one I want to watch. Not a big fan of Zverev either, but I picked him to take out Cart Horse.
    Come on, Sascha!

    • Collins injured and sub par but Barbora is so skilful with that deadly slice of hers. Great to see her in the quarters.

  18. Guessing Margot is happy Paolini is through as a. She really like s her and b. She picked her to the final .
    Was one-sided match where Paolini played very well and Navarro played nowhere near as well as she did against Coco. But having Coco’s fh to attack really helped her while today Paolini ‘s fh was excellent.
    Paolini surely fave to reach final now.

  19. Meanwhile Barbora is playing doubles this evening then onn court at 1 tomorrow which is hardly ideal.
    Am so bummed my faves are all in this side of draw but good news is that I like whoever wins either match.
    But draw now horribly unbalanced.

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